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question for ontario scofflaws.

trying to decide if a radar detector is a good investment or a terrible one. it would mostly be used for secondary roads outside the city, where i do quite a bit of driving every week. my question: some say, forget it. every o.p.p. has a specter in the car. you'll get caught with it. others say, it's only an issue on the 400 series highways, otherwise you're not likely to get nailed with one. anybody got the straight story? anybody have any experience with this?

Here is a way to get around it

Buy two radar detectors. One Valentine 1 - they are the best out there - and one POS one from radio shack. Or a used one from somewhere.

What you do is keep the crap one in your glove compartment. If you get caught, you reach up and take out the V1 and hide it somewhere in the cab. when the officer asks you to hand over the detector you give them the POS. They'll never suspect you have two. Tint your back window a bit too.

A very close friend of mine works for the Peel regional police. Says they never check for two, and most often they'll just sieze the unit and let you off.

And yes, it is worth it. A Valentine 1 in the country is a huge asset - the roads are funner, traffic is less and there is much less interference to screw up the signals, so when you do get a reading it is more likely to be a cop.

A speeding ticket means more $, points off your license and greater insurance rates. Compare this to losing out on a crappy radar detector, a relatively small ticket and no points to me makes it a no brainer.

good perspective, thanks. maybe you can answer....

this:

is it true or a myth that the police tell your insurance company if they catch you with a detector?

i've got a clean record, and i'm very careful about where and when i drive fast (my weekends take me out of toronto in the direction of collingwood). but i also have five cars, a snowmobile and an atv on my policy. losing my rating would be a world of hurt.

I don't know right now but I can find out

Though I'm not sure how ins. companies deal with it even if they did know. To me it seems as though it would be a bit of a stretch to increase someone's rates because they were caught with a radar detector, particularly when they are legal in some provinces but not in others.

How could they justify the increase in rates? You weren't caught speeding, you were caught with a radio reciever. By that logic you could make a case that Z-rated tires, custom suspension & brakes deserve the same consideration, as an individual that fits them to his vehicle would appear to be more likely to speed than someone who didn't. I think it's a grey area. Anyways next time I get in touch with my friend I'll ask him.

You wouldn't happen to be involved with an Ontario based angel investment group would you? I seem to recall running into you on the M lounge a while back when I had some questions with respect to starting my company.

good thinking, I'm going to do this..........

yep, we met in the m lounge...

but i'm not in that particular business. i have an ad agency, founded by a partner and myself ten years ago and privately owned to this day. that's where i got my schoolin' on financial and tax matters.